Canyon Gift Wraps Up 1-1 Tie With Valencia

Christmas came 10 days late for the Canyon High girls’ soccer team.

It was delivered by a Santa Claus impersonator wearing black socks with a white trim, black shorts and a black shirt with a white collar.

He also had a whistle.

Santa was a referee, but his gift was priceless.

Two minutes into injury time, late the first half, the referee awarded Canyon a penalty kick after two players positioned at the top of the goalbox jumped to try to win a ball after a throw in.

Neither coach saw any contact but the referee said he saw a Valencia defender give an uppercut to a Canyon player and awarded the free kick.

Jaime Rendich converted the kick, allowing Canyon to tie Valencia 1-1, in a Foothill League opener on Tuesday night.

“I feel like we were cheated because of the penalty kick,” said Coach Tony Scalercio of Valencia, whose team won the Lancaster tournament last week.

“The last time I had a call that bad, I took the goalie out of the goal and let the other team score.”

The Cowboys (11-3-2) might have scored on a gift but they had plenty of opportunities to find the net in the first half.

Canyon took 14 shots in the first half and held Valencia to two, but the shots sailed high and wide or directly at Valencia goalkeeper Jaisa Creps, who had 20 saves.

“It’s disappointing,” said Coach Gregg Cohen of Canyon. “We were dominating. We were the more skillful team. We dominated every aspect of the game. We didn’t put it together in one nice package.”

Canyon had its way with Valencia (11-2-2), moving the ball at will through three fourths of the field, but could only penetrate into the goalbox, causing them to take the majority of their shots from 20 yards.

“Our game plan neutralized their attack,” said Scalercio, whose team played without its most talented player, midfielder Shari Summers, who has a leg injury. “We were organized behind the ball and that was the difference in the game.

“We didn’t play pretty soccer, but we played effective soccer . . . [We were] able to compete with Canyon head to head. That pleases me for the future of Valencia soccer.”

Canyon’s offense flourished in the second half, pounding Valencia with 20 shots, but failed to capitalize on its opportunities.

The Cowboys’ best chances came when Nicole Modugno nearly scored on a blast from 40 yards in the 62nd minute and four minutes later saw her half volley from five yards miss the goal. With less than a minute left, Candice Crane just missed sneaking a ball inside the left post.

“We played with a lot of energy, but we didn’t put a lot of thought into what we were doing,” said Cohen, whose team held Valencia to four shots. “We were taking a lot of shots, but that’s not going to get it done.”

Valencia took a 1-0 lead in the 15th minute when Devin McLean’s flip throw in was headed in by Melanie Ervin.